Those who fulfil all the requirements for tenured professorships may apply for the DFG’s Heisenberg Programme. If you’re preparing for a future scientific leadership position and looking to boost your scientific reputation, we’ll help you to continue performing top-class research at a location of your choice.
The Heisenberg Programme is directed primarily at those researchers who have qualified for professorship via the Emmy Noether Programme, DFG staff positions, private-sector research or non-faculty academic positions. The target group also includes junior professors who have received positive evaluations, those who have achieved their habilitation or equivalent, and German researchers returning from abroad, as well as appropriately qualified foreign researchers looking to pursue careers in Germany.
November 2005 saw the launch of the Heisenberg professorships in addition to the Heisenberg fellowships. If you apply for a Heisenberg professorship, you will, in addition to a DFG review, also go through an appointment procedure at the admitting university. The admitting university must create the professor position and clarify the extent to which this position constitutes a structural development. The admitting university must also guarantee that, where permitted under state law, Heisenberg professors will be funded by the university budget once the five-year DFG funding period is over.